The sharp rise in apartment prices in major Czech cities in recent years combined with stricter mortgage conditions have led more people to rent, with a study by consultants KPMG quoted by Hospodářské noviny finding that the number of rental properties on the market has fallen by a third in only two years. In the last five years, prices of new apartments in Prague have gone up by 80% while rents have climbed by 42%, meaning there is room for the latter to rise still further.

Computer device maker Apple has returned to the Czech Republic to film another advertisement, this time for Apple Watch Series 5. The two-minute advertising clip was released September 10, and two days later was already closing in on 2 million views.

Czech carmaker Škoda Auto plans to offer electric car sharing under the WeShare brand in Prague next year, using its first electric model, the Škoda Citigo iV. The project is in cooperation with parent company Volkswagen.

The private Czech train and bus operator Leo Express is set to deploy new trains, manufactured by the Chinese company CRRC, the Czech News Agency reported on Wednesday. The new Sirius train units should start operating next year. The total value of the investment, which includes the delivery of three units and an option for 30 more, exceeds five billion crowns.

Archaeologists have uncovered a mass grave at the site of a former Nazi concentration camp in the Czech Republic, the Museum of Romani Culture said Wednesday. The remains of Romani adults and child Mass grave discovered ren dating back to 1943 were uncovered at the Lety concentration camp, where Roma people were incarcerated during World War II, the museum said.

The Czech Republic's Věra Jourová is likely to return to Brussels in a new role and with a higher status. If her candidacy is approved by MEPs in the coming weeks, Jourová will become this country's first Vice President as of November, and likely split the "rule-of-law" portfolio with the next EU Commissioner for Justice.

The Association of Credit for Central and Eastern Europe's 8th annual conference returns to Brno for the first time since 2014 yet again attracting Shared Service Centers to attend. More than 40 different international companies from across the CEE region will be attending the event, taking place 18-20 September.

Czech property billionaire Radovan Vítek's company said the New York hedge fund accusing him of a USD 1 billion fraud is wrongfully attempting to apply U.S. racketeering law to businesses that operate overseas. Vítek's CPI Property Group, the largest commercial property landlord in Berlin, said Tuesday in a New York court filing that a lawsuit by Kingstown Capital Management should be tossed out because it was filed too late and overlaps with claims already made in a case pending in Luxembourg since 2015.

Czech interest rates should stay on an even keel over the next year to keep domestic inflationary pressures under control even while global central banks shift to policy easing, Czech National Bank Vice-Governor Marek Mora said in an interview.

Czech businesses are still struggling to find workers, the news site Ihned.cz reports. In August, labour offices in the Czech Republic posted more than 350,000 vacancies, which is the highest figure in the country's history, the website wrote. The biggest demand is for construction workers, warehousemen, or truck drivers.

In mid-August, doctors at the University Hospital in Brno delivered a healthy baby girl 117 days after her mother was declared brain dead after suffering a brain haemorrhage. Petr Janků, head of the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, described the case in detail starting with the moment the woman was brought to the hospital.

Czech utility group ČEZ will begin the process of selling its assets in Romania in October and wants the transfer to be finalized or close to completion in 2022, company officials confirmed for local news agency Agerpres on September 9.

From November 2020 the Prague authorities are planning to ban the burning of coal, briquettes and coke in old stoves and boilers with a view to improving the capital's poor air quality, the Czech News Agency reported on Monday.